From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 183: Delusion

"What’s the issue?" Ari spoke directly to PD Emily, not even bothering to look at Analise Crouch, who was nominally his foster mother, and her daughter Audrey.

He didn’t even want to understand how they had found out about him being on the program, or how they had come to be here.

He just wanted them both gone.

Immediately.

PD Emily glanced between Ari, who had the coldest expression she had seen on his face so far, and the plain-faced pregnant woman and her daughter, who looked just like her.

The two women stared at her with greedy eyes, and for a second, she couldn’t believe that they were related to Ari.

But that was family, she supposed.

"This is your...guardian, correct? She brought paperwork that verifies that."

"According to the government, yes. But, I don’t have a single thing to say to her. And I would appreciate it if you kept her away from me in the future." Ari replied in as neutral a tone as he could manage.

"What are you saying, Ari? Even if I’m a foster mother, I’m still your mother who cares about what my son is doing. And I can see that you’re doing well for yourself. You’ve even added some weight. You used to be so thin." Analise looked from the blonde woman sitting in front of her, wearing designer clothing, to Ari’s slim figure, dressed in brand-name athletic wear with shiny jewelry on his ears, wrists, and neck with envious eyes.

His thin cheeks had filled out once, and he had even grown a bit taller.

It seemed that after leaving, he had done pretty well for himself.

And just as Audrey said, it seemed that he was making a lot of money on this show and had no trouble spending it on himself while she and her family were suffering, trying to make the little they had stretch.

"You’re not my mother. At best, you’re a state-appointed babysitter who I don’t want to deal with. Please leave." Ari replied in a cold voice.

"Don’t say that, sweetie. Aww, look at my baby, your hair is getting so long. You need a haircut." Ignoring his cold voice and putting on an affectionate voice, Analise Crouch reached out to touch Ari’s hair, but he quickly grabbed her wrist, his thin fingers squeezing it tightly.

"Owwww, you’re hurting me!"

"Then don’t touch me."

Ari flung her hand away before rubbing it against his pants as if he had touched something filthy, before turning to look at the PD.

"Why is she here?"

"She says she has something important to speak to you about."

"There’s nothing to talk about. Can I go back? I’m missing the team selection right now."

"What are you talking about, sweetheart? We need to discuss your presence here and your academic situation. I spoke to the principal, and apparently, you’ve been keeping secrets and skipping school. That’s a no-no ~. I would hate to have to do something drastic like pulling you out of this program~"

At her words, Ari finally turned to face her, giving her the frostiest expression she had seen in a while. "Cette salope est tarée? Have you lost your mind?" Ari looked at her incredulously before turning to the PD, his eyes clearly sending a message for her to do something.

Even though she couldn’t understand what he said, Analise Crouch instinctively knew that he was cursing at her.

"Don’t curse, sweetheart. He’s a bit finicky. Can you give us some time alone to talk?" Analise pretended to whisper to PD Emily, who just blinked with a straight face, before.

"Sure. Have a good conversation. I hope you can resolve whatever issue there is. Ari is a contestant who is doing quite well, and it would be a shame for him to be pulled out. If it’s concerning his academics, we do carve out time for those still in school to work on their assignments, but we can make extra accommodations if he needs them. We’d love for him to remain on the show."

PD Emily spoke slowly and carefully, trying to impress upon Ari’s guardian how well he was doing, so she wouldn’t pull him out.

At her words, the smile on Analise Crouch’s face grew even bigger, as if she had won a grand prize.

Once PD Emily had shut the door, she turned to face Ari, ignoring the angry look on his face.

She was prepared to coax him gently, but before she could say anything, Audrey spoke out while looking at the shiny diamond necklace and the watch on Ari’s body.

"Hmph. Ari. I see that you’re like doing well for yourself. It seems that you had money hidden away and just like let us suffer! That’s why you ran away! With what you spent on that jewelry, we could have liked lived in a better house again and driven like nice cars and like gone on vacation! Do you know how much I was like teased in school. They like called me a broke bum."

So?

Noticing where she was looking, Ari couldn’t help but laugh incredulously at the apparent greed.

It was nothing new since she was always fighting with her other siblings for allowance, clothes, and more.

But none of what he was wearing right now even belonged to him.

It all belonged to Benjamin, who had woken up and suddenly decided to criticize Ari’s fashion sense and play dress-up with him this morning, stating that since Ari needed to dress according to his face(whatever that meant), he made him try on numerous things until he was satisfied.

Not in the mood to even begin explaining to people he thought were completely irrelevant, Ari just rolled his eyes before facing Analise Crouch.

"I’ve been asking and still haven’t gotten an answer. What exactly do you want? Our paths have no reason to cross. It certainly hasn’t crossed in almost 2 years after you kicked me out. I’m turning 18 in about three weeks, and then you’ll have no obligation toward me and I toward you, so I’m trying to understand why you’re here. If it’s money, sorry, I’m a broke high school student and have nothing to give you."

"I don’t believe that! Look at how you’re like dressed! The diamonds are literally shining."

Although she agreed and was greedily staring at the jewelry, Analise focused on the main topic at hand after shushing her daughter.

"Be quiet, Audrey. Look, Ari, now that I’m pregnant again, I’m just trying to reconnect with y-"

"Spit out the real reason in 5 seconds or I’m leaving. 5. 4. 3" Ari rudely interrupted, as he started getting up from his seat, tired of this nonsense.

Knowing that this kid really didn’t know how to bluff, Analise quickly changed her tune.

"As I said earlier. I’m your guardian. I didn’t give you permission to be on the show, and I didn’t give you permission to skip school. I’ve already spoken to that principal of yours, and if you don’t make a deal with me, I’ll pull you out of the show unless you make a deal with me."

"Just a thought. What exactly is in this deal of yours?"

"Money naturally, since you have enough to spend on luxury goods, you can spare some for us. That can tide us over for a bit. Since the family is expecting a new member, we could use the winnings to get a bigger house, new clothes, and a new car. And of course, you need to support your siblings. Audrey, Alison, and Ava have always wanted to be influencer actresses, and they could use your connections. Braxton, Brody, and Bennett want to be streamers. You could get the celebrity judges to come as guests. I think that’s enough to start, and of course, we’ll sign a contract to iron out the kinks."

Hearing Analise Crouch list out her delusional dreams for her family, Ari had one thought-

"You’re crazy."

Even if he could magically do everything that she was talking about, why in the world would he?

He literally hated this family almost as much as he hated William Forbes.

"Don’t say that, Ari. This is a life-changing opportunity for us."

Us? What us? Who is us?

When I spell my name, there is no ’us’ in it.

Ari couldn’t understand what was going on in her mind.

"After all, I am your guardian. If you don’t agree to my deal, I can stop your dream like that."

SNAP!

Analise Crouch snapped her finger for emphasis, and Ari laughed incredulously.

"Tu es fou. You’re literally delusional. I can drop out of school and just get a GED separately. As for money. What money? I’m broke."

"I’ve said it before, speak English. This is America, not France. And I don’t believe you. Audrey showed me how popular the show was and the prize money. Look at how you’re dressed. It’s clear you’re doing well."

"So? That sounds like your own problem, honestly. Because I don’t care." Ari shrugged, "If that’s all you’re here for. Then leave. Some of us actually work for a living."

"Don’t test me, Ariel Matisse! I will inform the production team that I don’t approve of you being on here! They’ll kick you off immediately!" Analise Crouch yelled, angry that Ari was being stubborn once again.

He was always like this when it came to important matters.

"Actually, due to you kicking me out, I got a temporary guardian who was the one who brought me to audition in the first place. You can ask the production team, I’m sure they have it on video somewhere. So you’re really not needed." Ari lied with a straight face.

All he needed to do was survive three weeks, and this conversation was pointless.

At Ari’s words, Analise Crouch looked shocked, but Audrey interjected once more.

"He’s totally lying! I’ll go like check with them!"

"Go for it. And while you’re at it, I really want you both to use your brains for 2.5 seconds, you want me to give you benefits, and yet you want to kick me off the show that I’m supposed to be getting the benefits from. Does that make sense to you?"

The two women looked a bit shocked as if they hadn’t thought of that before Audrey replied in a snide tone, "You know what I think? I think you’re bluffing."

"You know what I think?" Ari imitated her whiny valley girl tone, "I think you and your family have a lot of nerve showing your face in front of me after everything your family has done to me. The money is one thing, but selling my parents’ things, including all of the family photo albums and memorabilia? I’ll never forgive you. Va te faire foutre."

"They’re not even your real parents, so it doesn’t even matter. I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal out of it," Audrey muttered quietly before flinching at the look on Ari’s face.

"I beg your pardon?"

The black pupils in his sea-green eyes visibly grew larger as his nostrils flared, as he glared at her.

He looked as if he wanted to strangle her, and she couldn’t help but flinch and cling to her mom.

Ari closed his eyes while breathing deeply to calm himself before snapping them open.

"This conversation is over. Please see yourself out."

Analise Crouch took one look at Ari’s clenched jaw before standing up and rubbing her belly.

"Consider my words, Ari, I would hate for this opportunity to disappear for you since you so clearly value it, especially after refusing to have anything to do with entertainment. Who knows what I’ll do or say to the PD? Or to the public."

Ari let out a broken laugh at the situation he found himself in.

Truly, he couldn’t understand why people kept bothering him.

The show wasn’t over; he hadn’t even received the small amount of money that his team had won the last time, yet here these two were making plans as if they owned him and any future accomplishments he might have.

"Look. It’s been about two years, so you’ve probably forgotten that I actually have quite a bad temper, especially when threatened. My record is clean, I have nothing to hide, and I certainly don’t mind airing your dirty business to the world if you keep bothering me. I have no money for you, I don’t want to make a deal, I have nothing else to say. Just go back to your house and continue living the life you’ve been living and pretend you don’t know me. And I’ll do the same."

Ari got up, opening the door and standing silently while waiting for them to leave.

"I suggest you reconsider. I also have quite a bad temper when things don’t go my way. I’ll give you some time to think about it." Analise Crouch warned him one final time, but Ari simply snorted.

"Goodbye."

Ari didn’t even bother looking at her, simply closing the door and sitting with his head bowed on the chair once they both left.

To be honest, he felt drained both emotionally and physically.

As Ari was weighing his odds and trying to figure out what to do, PD Emily walked in with a blank expression on her face at the dark cloud that seemed to hover around the individual sitting in the room.

"This is a new record. Less than 24 hours after I told you not to show up in my office, you appear. What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Put me out of my misery? I’m ready to visit the underworld."

PD Emily couldn’t help but let out a tiny laugh of amusement before clearing her throat.

"Do that when you’re not under my watch. We can’t afford it. Are things settled with your guardian? It got loud for a bit in there."

"Dunno." Ari shrugged before, staring at her like he wanted to say something.

"What? It’s not like you to be shy. Speak up."

"Theoretically..."

"Theoretically?"

"Theoretically, if I auditioned without explicit guardian approval, what would happen?"

At the question that obviously wasn’t theoretical, PD Emily felt another headache coming up as she stared at what was turning into her number one troublemaker.

Although people lying about their age was common in Hollywood, this was her first time dealing with it.

"Theoretically, when is your 18th birthday?"

"Theoretically, April 21st."

A couple of weeks away.

"Of course. Freaking cusp signs. Always causing trouble." PD Emily muttered while Ari stared at her in confusion.

"And who theoretically signed your paperwork? Was it theoretically forged?"

If it was, then there would be legal trouble.

There probably already was, since his guardian had come by.

"A priest whose church I was taking refuge in after being homeless for 2 years because I was kicked out by the guardian you just saw."

After hearing the full story, PD Emily nodded while wishing that she had caught the confession on camera for later use.

If Ari were around long enough, it could be useful.

"Theoretically, I’m not hearing this, but I highly recommend that you theoretically lawyer up until your 18th birthday or stay in your guardian’s good graces. By coming, she gave implicit approval, and we won’t allow her in again unless there’s an emergency, but theoretically, if she says no, we have to kick you off for legal reasons. Theoretically."

"Hmmm. Okay. So, I should stay out of her way. Theoretically."

"Theoretically, yes. And theoretically, you didn’t hear this from me, and theoretically, you should get out of my office now. And I’m serious. I don’t want to see you in here again."

"Got it. Thanks. Theoretically."

As Ari gave her a bright smile, the dark cloud around him disappearing, PD Emily pointed at the door with a cold expression. freeweɓnøvel~com

"Get out."

With a slightly brighter outlook and a new resolution to stay out of trouble, he asked a staff member which team he was assigned to and happily skipped into the practice room.

Only for his smile to turn upside down as he walked in.

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